Slayers in a Half Shell
by Janusi
Summary: Crossover with the TMNT movies. Turtles and alligators ain't the only thing living in the sewers as the Turtles and the Foot soon discover. R&R please.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to their owners who I'm too lazy to list. 

A/N: First off, the timeline is a few months after Season 7 and directly after the second Turtles movie. Of course that means that the Turtles movies happened later then what you saw on screen but is that such a big leap? Secondly, I can't tell you when updates are because this is not the only story I am working on. And thirdly, the rating is primarily because of the violence. I like to err on the side of caution, don't want to get my account or stories removed.

And don't forget, R&R!

**Enter the Shredder**

Uuh... maybe all that hardware's for making coleslaw.

- Michelangelo

**New York, at the Waterfront**  
A large pile of wood lay still as water sloshed against it. The music from the club still played, although keener ears then man's could already hear the sirens in the distance. Apparently someone had finally called the police. On that pile lay part of an arm adorned with a spike-covered bracer.

The rest of this person's body must still be buried underneath the debris. That he had managed to punch even that one arm through to the surface was already an astounding feat of strength, the fact that he hadn't survived the collapse after all was only to be expected. Then the fist clenched.

**The sewers, a little later**  
Uroku Saki was stumbling through the subterranean passages of the city. He didn't know where exactly he was going, just that he had to get away. At the moment, he was far more preoccupied with the past, with his own stupidity. Because that was what it had been, swallowing that ooze in the desperate hope that it would give him the strength to finally crush those freaks.

And it had. But at the price of his control, his skill. It had devolved him from a ninjitsu master into an uncontrollable beast. Those Turtles hadn't stood a chance, but neither did Saki as he collapsed the pier on himself. His last recollections were that of those four jumping off the pier. Shredder had no doubt they had survived.

Again he stopped for a moment to take stock of himself. While he was unconscious his body had once again changed. But this time it had reverted back to his original form, although Saki thought he might be a little taller now. His helmet was gone and when ran a hand over his face he could only feel the original scars the Rat had inflicted. He did feel very weak but other then that he seemed to be unhurt. He fervently hoped that the ooze was now done mutating his body.

As Saki staggered on, he didn't notice as several figures began stalking him. But when they surrounded him, Uroku finally snapped out of his daze and stopped. Unconsciously he straightened up, giving an air of confidence in answer to the threatening aura that came from this group of people. For all the setbacks he had suffered these last few months, he was still the leader of the Foot.

One of the men, dressed as a cowboy, stepped forward and looked him over once before speaking. He even had a Texan accent. "Ain't you a little late for Halloween." Obligatory laughs came from the others, but Shredder was merely annoyed. He had better things to do then be insulted by some local gang.

"Step aside." He ordered imperiously.

The response was not what Saki had expected. The face of the cowboy morphed, his eyes changed to yellow and sharp fangs descended from his mouth. But the cowboy's tone didn't change. "No. Boys, get him."

Shredder snapped to when he was attacked from both sides. He turned to face the opponent on the left, kicking him in the gut and then completed the turn by backhanding the skinhead on his right with his left hand. That last move cut its deformed face open as well as lifting him off his feet. His first opponent met the wall with bonecrushing force while the others were still processing the fact that they weren't facing a normal human.

Again, the Shredder didn't get the response he expected. The cowboy actually perked up. "Oh, your blood is going to taste mighty fine." He quickly readjusted his hat before charging in. But before he had even reached Saki he slowed down again. Before Shredder could even guess to the reason he got kicked from behind causing him to stagger. Only then did the cowboy attack with a right hook that snapped Saki's head to the side.

There was one more vampire, a gangly one that only now attacked by trying to kick him in the stomach. Tried because Shredder caught the foot and then flung him against the cowboy knocking both down. The last vampire again took advantage of the momentary distraction with a chop to the head. Shredder rolled with the hit and out of his adversary's reach but he wasn't facing humans.

The skinhead was up and attacking him as he came out of the roll. Shredder blocked the kick, then redirected the punch to maneuver the skinhead in front of the vampire that had given him so much trouble. Unfortunately the vamp had managed to stop before colliding but a swift kick catapulted the man Saki was still holding into him. But the Shredder was breathing heavily at this point, his reserves all but gone after his disastrous fight with the freaks.

And now these new freaks, these... vampires. And vampires they had to be, the comment about drinking his blood along with their strength was proof enough for Saki. In hindsight, Shredder should have taken this moment to flee instead of reflect. But hindsight is overrated; it doesn't change a thing.

So the fight continued. The cowboy and one of his stooges attacked, the stooge feinted with his right then threw a punch with his left but the Shredder saw it coming. He evaded the punch, grabbed the vamp by his shoulder and then yanked him forward right into his knee. A vampire might not need to breathe, but that still hurt. However, before the Shredder could finish it off with an elbow into the back of his neck the leader of the pack attacked.

The left hook was blocked but Shredder was still pushing the gangly vampire away and had nothing to stop the cowboy's right uppercut. The hit had enough force to launch him into the air after which he collided painfully with a pipe. He still managed to land on his unsteady feet but the leader of this group didn't give him a chance to recover. A series of punches that snapped his head left and right made his grip on consciousness tenuous, but it was the sudden sharp pain in his neck that finally pushed him into the darkness.

VVV

Lyle Gorch wasn't your typical vampire. No, sirree. It wasn't his viciousness, something he already had when he was human. No, what set him apart from most was that he kept his wits. Most vampires were all about indulging their impulses and damn the consequences. It was that attitude that got most killed first time they went up against a slayer. But not Lyle, twice he had faced a slayer and despite some strong incentives like the death of his brother or his wife he had done the smart thing. He had run as fast as he could.

And now there were hundreds of slayers roaming the planet. Which meant that he had to rethink his lifestyle, he needed some cannon fodder to keep any slayer he might stumble upon busy while he made his exit. A lot of vampires actually sought slayers out, hoping to get a taste of their blood. Lyle just thought they were idiots, he had enough of slayers after that blasted Slayerfest Trick organized.

He took another look at the newest addition to his little posse. His blood had tasted funny but hadn't done anything else. So now he could only hope that the increased strength the guy had shown during the fight would still be there when he rose. And that he was at least semi-coherent, the outfit wasn't exactly inspiring confidence in his mental health.

Not that the others were examples of intellect or even much common sense, Lyle reflected as he saw them doing not much of anything around the nest. Stragglers all, these were simply the few he had found operating alone in the city. Apparently New York didn't boast a high demon population although that was changing with the local hellmouth acting up lately. The local vampires also seemed to dislike out-of-towners.

Further thinking was interrupted by the corpse sitting up. 'Showtime', Lyle thought. He got up from his comfortable chair and strolled to the fledgling that was now standing up, still a bit disorientated. "Howdy. Now if you just do as I tell you I think…" He was cut of by the lightning fast reaction of the newly risen vampire. A right palmstrike to the chest sent Lyle flying through the air.

He crashed through some shelves overflowing with all kinds of junk into the wall. It wasn't enough to knock him out though and Lyle realized that now was the time to take this guy out. He wouldn't accept him as his leader and the power behind that one attack told Lyle he wouldn't win a straight up fight. The nest was a dump with junk all over the place so finding something wooden and stake-like didn't take long.

When he found it, he grabbed it and only then did he get up. Lyle knew how overwhelming the first moments as a vampire were. This was his shot, while his opponent still didn't know what exactly had happened to him. But even with surprise on his side the fledgling still managed to catch Lyle by the throat. But he failed to block the stake, which Lyle plunged deep into him.

He let go of Lyle and staggered back as he looked astonished at the piece of wood protruding from his chest. "That's the severance package," Lyle quipped but his laughter died in his throat when he noticed that the costumed weirdo still hadn't turned to dust. In fact, he was now pulling the stake out and Lyle could see how the hole began to close. Even vampires didn't heal that fast.

Then the fledgling struck like a cobra, planting the stake in Lyle's chest before he could even raise an arm. Lyle wasn't much for fancy words, so his last ones weren't very memorable. "Ah, shoot."

VVV

"Ah, shoot." And with those words the cowboy turned to dust. 'So that was what the cowboy had expected to happen when plunged that piece of wood into my heart,' Shredder concluded. 'The ooze must still be affecting me. I wonder what else it did? Well, only one way to find out.' And he turned around to inspect the other vampires. They hadn't moved since the fight had started and even now they seemed to be hypnotized by this sudden threat in their midst.

A being that knew at least one way to kill them and seemingly couldn't be killed himself that way even though he should be. As far as Shredder could tell they all seemed to be like the street kids he had been recruiting from, although these four seemed especially spineless. Unconsciously he let his demonic visage slip, showing his scarred human face again.

"You all have just become members of the Foot," he declared. Two of them seemed to recognize the name including the vampire that had attacked him from behind. The only one that might be worthy of becoming a full member. He took a seat as if he was in a throne room, giving an audience to his subjects. "Now tell me, everything."

**John F. Kennedy International Airport, the same day**  
Faith was still uncertain about all of this. Yes, she wasn't the girl she once was but she still had that past. Legally, she was a free girl thanks to Wolfram & Hart. And how weird was it to see Angel heading the evil law firm he had spent four years fighting against. But legal fu didn't change her past and she still questioned the wisdom of sending her off to New York to setup the local branch of the new and improved Watcher's Council.

But Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies apparently thought she could do it. Sure, she first tried to squirm her way out of it. But when she couldn't she had decided there was no way she was going to disappoint B. Didn't stop her from worrying even now but she kept a brave face on as she looked out for the person that was supposed to meet her. And then she saw him, wearing a brown business suit and a piece of paper with her name on it. He wasn't a very tall person, she thought that even Buffy might be taller than him.

His receding hairline was the only clue that he wasn't a young man anymore. And that was her entire staff. Everything was still so new and they had a real manpower shortage. Faith was certain that half the reason for sending her was the fact that they didn't have anybody else. That, and she was a city girl anyway so they had figured that she would fit right in.

"So you're my ride?" She said after she had made her way to the man.

"Ehm, yes that would be me," he fumbled. He surprised Faith with his lack of a British accent she had expected from an ex-Watcher. Then he extended his hand. "John Vishe, with a V."

"Faith Lehane, but you already knew that." He had a strong handshake, which was good. The continued the conversation as they moved to the exit and Vishe's car. He didn't discuss business but kept to the mundane stuff like how her flight was. A good thing considering they were in a crowded airport. The other thing Faith noticed was that he seemed to stutter a bit now and then.

She mentally reviewed what she knew about him for a clue to his nervousness. When they took over they also got their hands on the old Council's assets like money, books, lots and lots of books, buildings and of course some people. Most of the watchers had died in the explosion and half of the ones that didn't, refused to have anything to do with the new council.

John Vishe was one of those who had stayed on. He hadn't been held in good favor by the old Council, which spoke for him in Faith's book. Instead they had let him keep an eye on the dormant Hellmouth and keep the local Watcher's office usable. That building was where they were going to set up shop now, the remodeling should be finished but no telling how far they were lagging behind.

And then they arrived at his car and Faith's knew she was in the presence of a watcher. It was a Cadillac Coupe DeVille that looked a little rundown. 'Watchers really seemed to be incapable of getting a car that was even remotely recent,' Faith thought.

After stuffing her baggage in the trunk and getting into the car, they could finally get down to business. But first things first. "You know about my past?"

John didn't even pause in starting the car when the question was asked. "I-I do indeed, Miss Lehane." And then he showed some insight. "But that is not the reason for the way I speak. It's…just how I am. Y-your past, I mean, what you did with it." He seemed to take a deep breath before trying to make his point again. "I read the reports from the old council and-and I know you have changed."

"Sorry, but I had to clear that point up." And that little speech problem was probably part of the reason why he got shipped of to New York. He just didn't fit with the confident and cultured image the Council had wanted to maintain. "So, what's the stitch?"

Vishe took his eyes off the road for a moment to stair at her in puzzlement before he answered. "Ehm, well, if you mean what the mystical situation is here then maybe I should start with the local Hellmouth. For starters it's not as big as the one in Sunnydale or even the one in Cleveland. If Cleveland is a Hellmouth then think of the one here as a Hellnostril."

That produced a chuckle from Faith, who noted that he spoke with more confidence now that Vishe was giving his report. The joke was a good sign too, she had dreaded to find another Wesley here. John continued, "we don't have any records from before the Dutch settled here but it is believed that part of the reason they got the island so cheap was because the local tribe knew about the Hellmouth."

Faith now interrupted him, "Thanks for the history, but I want to hear how the situation is here now. And where this Hellmouth is, that would come in handy too."

Vish blinked. "Of course, my apologies. It's just that the history of this city is quite fascinating." Then he noted that he was veering of the subject again and got back on topic. "Ahum, as for-for the location. The Hellhole, I mean Hellmouth, is in Central Park. As for the local vampires, they have adopted the same organization as the criminal element. Groups of vampires have divided the city between themselves and each group vigorously defends its right to be the only one to feed in a particular area.

"This has kept the vampire population low since any vampire caught feeding without permission from the local group is killed on the spot. There are still the occasional fights over territory, but some of the groups have been around since the nineteenth century. Of course, after the collapse of Sunnydale the situation has begun to change. More and more vampires are coming here and the locals are beginning to loose control."

Faith had read about the low vampire population and had wondered why that was. After all, the large human population along with plenty of underground passageways in the form of sewers should have made this an attractive place for vampires. And now she knew. It was attractive, but the locals just didn't want to share. "Wasn't there a Slayer here in the 70's, a Nikki Wood?"

Vishe nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, but the vampire gangs, I suppose you could call them, tried to stay out of her way as far as I can tell. They even seemed to have used her to take care of any trespassing vampires, luring them into her path." He sighed. "I read her chronicles and I know she was one of the better Slayers but she usually only fought one or two vampires. Rarely more and she only took out five nests in all her years as the Slayer."

So that had been Nikki's secret. She had lived so long because she had the local vamps cowering before her. "And the other demons in town? Anything going on with them, any haunts I should keep an eye on?"

"That's actually the opposite. There are quite a few demons in the city, but they are mostly unorganized. I have a list of the local demon bars at home. There is also a small nest of Lycans here."

Faith frowned. "Lycans, as in werewolves?"

John shook his head. "No, more like pseudo-werewolves. There is a long story behind it but I'll try to summarize it. In Eastern Europe there is a feud going on for hundreds of years now between pseudo-werewolves and pseudo-vampires."

"Pseudo-vampires?" Faith interrupted.

"Yes, they aren't real vampires because they are still human and holy objects don't harm them. As far as the Council can," then he corrected himself, "could tell they and the lycans are related somehow. Both are immortal and both transfer their condition through biting but for the rest they seem to share the same characteristics as the creatures they resemble. And they also seem to be oblivious to the mystical world."

"And these local Lycans?" Faith enquired.

"Refugees from this war, it seems the vampires are winning it although since the destruction of the Council I haven't heard anything about it. In any case, the local pack is consisting mostly of females although I don't know why that is."

"And why is this the first time I hear about any of this?" Faith wanted to know.

"Oh, well I don't really know but I guess they must have thought it irrelevant. As I said, they keep their war confined to Eastern Europe and the pseudo-vampires don't even feed on humans. They drink cow's blood." And then they arrived at their destination, which turned out to be a large, red brick building with five stories. Alleyways were present on both sides; one was big enough to let a truck through while the other one wasn't wide enough to let two people pass each other. The entrance was in the middle and a garage on the right.

At least Faith had assumed it was a garage, but it turned out to be an elevator when the floor suddenly sank. The basement was mostly empty, although Faith noted that half of it was reserved for parking with another half reserved for storing what seemed to be junk. A chain link fence separated the two halves. The only other vehicle Faith could see was an old Volkswagen van. The dust on the floor was a clear sign that most of the parking spaces hadn't been used in a while.

Faith turned to John. "Didn't this place see more activity before the Council blew up?"

John looked back with a mingling of embarrassment and anger. An anger that wasn't directed at her, Faith was sure of that. "Yes, there were two other Watchers stationed here but we haven't received much in the way of funding or equipment since I arrived. Our library hasn't even received any books from the Council since I arrived, I had to buy them myself from local bookstores."

"Haven't you been here for 10 years?"

"Yes, ten very frustrating years."

TBC


	2. We want you!

A/N Guess I should have said that I would update irregular.Oh, and if you like this story, or even if you don't, let me know. No Turtles in this chapter either, they will make their first appearance in the next chapter. Now, on with the story.

**We want you!**

"They are not my buddies, they are my minions."  
- Harmony

**The Junkyard**  
"I say we leave the city now!" A young man shouted, pacing back and forth in front of the gathered group of Foot ninjas. It was almost a day since the disaster at the construction site and they had once again returned to their fallback spot. But not everybody had made it, including Shredder and Tatsu. That meant this place was compromised and that the clan didn't have any leaders at the moment.

So it was a defeated group that was now trying to sort out what the hell they were going to do next. To many, leaving New York made a lot of sense. Starting over somewhere else where the police didn't know about the Foot. Somewhere else where there weren't giant, talking turtles lurking in the sewers. The pacing man had removed his mask as had most of the others. The things were surprisingly comfortable but they did inhibit speaking.

"There is nothing left for us here. Shredder is gone as is master Tatsu. I say I should be the leader now, anybody got a problem with that?" He had stopped pacing and was now glaring at the assembled people, daring them to speak up against him. But the challenge came from behind, from the wooden shed that had been Shredder's dwelling.

"I do", a powerful voice rang out. It turned the blood of the would-be leader into ice as he recognized it. He quickly turned around to see an armored figure step out of the shadows and into the dying light of the setting sun. It was the Shredder; he even wore the model helmet he had worn until his first confrontation with the Turtles. To the youth's credit, he did not back down.

"You're not our leader anymore Shredder. You've gotten obsessed with killing those Turtles, you lost sight of the big picture. I say it's time for some change around here." It would have been reassuring if at least some of the guys behind him had given him support. Instead they were quiet as mice, silently observing how this confrontation was playing out.

Shredder didn't answer. He merely narrowed his eyes before calmly advancing. The young ninja waited until Shredder was almost into range and then he swiftly kicked the steel pipe lying near his right foot up. Not wasting any time he grabbed it and swung it overhand towards Shredder's head.

But the surprise didn't do him any good because Shredder reacted as if he had seen the attack coming a mile away. He grabbed the pipe as it came on but instead of blocking the attack he added his own strength to the swing, using the motion to lift the young ninja up and over. He flew over the shed and further, finally landing unseen behind a rusty truck with a dull thud.

Shredder watched him fly with savage satisfaction. Then he turned a predatory gaze upon the rest. Before his transformation he had considered them tools, now he saw them as delicious tools. Unfortunately, dinner had to wait until he had set things in motion. This city would be his. And this time, there was nothing that could stand in his way.

VVV

'Ha, the Bulls finally won a game this season.' Frank thought to himself as he read the sports page. He was supposed to be guarding the sliteye they had arrested last night. The guy had his ribs broken in several places so he had to go to the hospital. But it wasn't like he was going anywhere and his buddies wouldn't try anything either. Those chickens would have long flown the coop.

So Frank was reading the paper, sipping his coffee occasionally to stay awake. He didn't like nightshifts and he most certainly didn't like these shitty assignments. Worst of all was that his shift had just begun. He would be stuck here for hours.

A sword placed against his throat and a hand over his mouth interrupted his reading. From the corner of his eyes he could see men in green getups with green masks, then pain laced through his throat as the sword neatly severed his windpipe. Blood spattered on the newspaper as he struggled against the hands holding him down. His cries were being kept muffled by the hands over his mouth and the ones keeping his jaws together. But the rapid loss of blood as well as well as the lack of oxygen quickly drained him of his strength. When the Shredder passed the security guard he was already dead.

His hands were being tucked over his belly and his newspaper was settled over his face to make it appear as if he was asleep. The hallway was empty and peaceful again when the Shredder closed the door behind him. For a moment he stood stock-still taking in the broken body of his loyal second. Yet another weapon that had failed against the Turtles, but that would change.

He silently stalked to the bed, the beeps of the heart monitor covering the non-existing sounds he made. And yet still Tatsu somehow sensed his presence. His eyes opened, first from awakening and then in startled recognition of the figure looming over him. "Master Shredder," he whispered. The oxygen mask made speaking difficult, the broken ribs made it painful.

"Tatsu," Shredder returned as he efficiently removed the oxygen mask before removing his own mask. "I shall reward you for your loyalty. Once you awaken, make your way to the sewers below this hospital. A guide will wait for you there that will bring you to me." Tatsu only had a moment to ponder what his master meant by awaken before he saw Shredder's face morph and then bite him in the neck.

By the time the first doctor barreled into the room, Tatsu was dead and the room empty except for the constant whine of the heart monitor.

VVV

Faith wasn't a happy Slayer right now. When she had arrived at the new headquarters she was pleasantly surprised to see that the refurbishing was finished. Of course the library was lacking, but Faith was more of an action girl anyway and after a phone call to Giles that problem would soon be solved. Weapon-wise they were stocked since they hadn't expected the New York office to have many in storage.

Then the other shoe dropped. Faith had asked Vishe to do a quick locator spell so they could find the new Slayers and Vishe had told her he couldn't do it. Apparently when they did an inventory of the skills the various ex-council watchers had, they had only asked Vishe about his magical knowledge and not his skill. And of course Vishe had to be one of those people who knew a lot about magic but couldn't get a spell to work to save his life.

Impressive enough he had managed to locate three of the slayers with the clues Cleveland had supplied him with so they weren't completely screwed. Although why nobody had caught this before baffled her. But now she had to sweet talk the local coven into supplying them with some magic support until the NWC found one for her. So now she was stalking through this rundown neighborhood to find her first Slayer. She was just passing another dark alley when she sensed a vampire. Excellent, she needed to vent some frustration.

VVV

'She was too young to die!' Alice kept repeating that thought over and over in her head as her customer slammed her into the alley wall. He had seemed pretty normal when he had approached her, except for the dated clothes. But when they had gone into the alley for some privacy that had changed. She had struggled, kicked and screamed but nobody out there on the streets cared. And she wasn't feeling so hot, that was why she was out here in the first place.

At least her kicks had caused the guy to yelp, but she wasn't fast enough to make use of the opening. Instead it got her a face-to-face encounter with the wall. The man now turned her around and her eyes widened in disbelief as well as recognition at the yellow eyes and disfigured face the man was now wearing. 'Could this be just another dream? It couldn't be. She felt far too miserable and none of the dreams had been in first person. This was real!'

At some point she had closed her eyes, not wanting to see it actually biting her. But she opened them again when she felt him being yanked away. What she saw made her think again that she was dreaming because there stood one of the girls from her dreams. She spared a glance for Alice before fully turning to face the man she had thrown against the other wall.

"You do know the seventies are over?" The young woman said. The man didn't respond, he just attacked. Or better said, tried to attack because the one punch he got off was expertly blocked. And he didn't even have time for another because now the woman was on the offense. She started with a right hook that she then redirected into a backhand that made the man stumble back but the brunette didn't let up.

A few more punches and then she sidestepped to plant her left knee in his stomach, doubling the badly dressed guy over. Alice's attention had been more with the beating the man was receiving then the woman giving said beating so she didn't notice the woman pulling out a stake from her back. But she did notice it when she planted it in the guy's back and then he just exploded into dust. Not even a skeleton remained.

Her eyes lingered on the spot the man had occupied for a moment longer before staring at her savior; at least she hoped the girl was that. She was dressed in denim and sneakers, all of it looked quite new. The woman in turn didn't seem to spare the thing she had killed another thought and focussed completely on her as she put the stake back. "Alice, just the girl I was looking for."

"th-That's not my name," she peeped but even she wasn't fooled by that lie. The woman just gave her a look that said 'who are you trying to fool here?'

"How did you know my name and why are you looking for me? I haven't done anything!" Alice continued defeated.

The woman now gave her a small smile, probably trying to put her at ease. It just made Alice more suspicious. "Hi, Alice. My name is Faith and this isn't about anything you have done. This is about what happened to you, what you became about four months ago."

Alice wanted to deny that anything had happened to her. Although Alice desperately wanted to know anything this woman could tell her about the Change as she had dubbed it she just couldn't risk it. It didn't help that her distrust kept slipping away because for some reason she got the sense of family from Faith. She almost implicitly trusted her, which made no sense since her real family had never inspired such trust.

Faith cut her off even before she started. "You haven't even asked about the guy turning into dust and don't think I didn't see that look of recognition when you saw me. You have been having dreams about girls fighting things like Disco Dusty just now and you've had dreams about me fighting them too. Since those dreams started you've gotten stronger, faster and your senses have gotten better." Faith took a step forward. "And the shit you've been using hasn't had the same kick since then either." The tone in her voice had been vicious in that last sentence as she pointedly looked at her right arm. "How am I doing so far?"

Alice looked down and saw that her jacket had slipped of her shoulder during the struggle. The top she wore didn't have any sleeves and just enough of her bare skin had been visible for Faith to see the needle marks. Alice just wanted the Earth to gobble her up as she hastily covered up.

Faith softened her expression and tone. "That stuff is going to get you killed."

"How do you know," Alice spat out. Or at least tried to but it sounded more questioning then anything else.

"Cause I grew up in a neighborhood like this one. And because I went through those same changes a few years back. You see, you and me are Vampire Slayers or Slayers for short."

"Vampire Slayers?" Alice asked incredulously.

Faith just pointed at where the man had turned to dust. "Exhibit A."

"So vampires are real and somebody upstairs decided young girls would be the best choice in fighting them?"

Faith grinned. "Hot chicks with superpowers," she corrected. "And it were just some sorcerers that made the first Slayer. There is this whole dramatic exposition about what our job is but it all boils down to this: demons are real. We kill them. We also stop the occasional apocalypse but that's usually in May."

Alice blinked at that before focusing on something else. "Alright, if I really am one of these Slayers then why did that… vampire knock me around like that?"

"Because you don't know how to fight. And I told you those drugs were gonna get you killed, one way or the other."

"And what if I don't want to be like this? What if I want to be just normal?"

Faith shrugged. "We can do that. But once done it can't be undone. Besides, from what I have seen of your life so far I don't see why you would be so eager to be normal."

Faith let Alice mull that over for a moment before wrapping the discussion up. "Why don't you sleep a night on all this. It's late and you aren't looking so great right now." She produced a business card from somewhere. On the card where the initials NWC and underneath it an address and telephone number. "But if I were you I would hurry with that decision because a Slayer attracts supernatural trouble. Plus bright colors attract vampires," she added. "You were lucky so far but I am thinking that your luck is starting to run out."

VVV

Frankie was still counting the money in the envelope, pretending to be in pain in case anybody that had seen the fight was looking. Wouldn't want anybody to cry foul. Or in this neighborhood they would just call the fight rigged and start drawing guns. She was walking down this filthy alley to the less filthy but equally abandoned street when she suddenly became aware of someone following her.

Frankie's senses had become better too when she had gotten stronger but she couldn't tell how she knew this person was following her when Frankie's senses could barely tell the person was there. But her instincts told her she was being followed and she decided to trust them. So she stopped and tucked the envelope inside her coat before turning to confront the guy.

But it wasn't a guy but a woman of roughly her age. A very attractive woman at that and Frankie recalled seeing her in the crowd. She had noticed because unlike most there she hadn't cheered or anything. She had just stood there, assessing the fight between the two girls. Now that Frankie saw the way she moved she knew the woman knew how to fight too. Which lowered the odds she was a groupie, too bad. Fights left her very wired these days, even if she 'lost' this one.

The woman stopped and slightly tilted her head to the right before talking with a Boston accent. "I had this whole little speech worked out on the way but after that little show in there I just gotta ask." She indicated the building to Frankie's left. The building where the fight had been. "Why did you throw that fight."

Frankie didn't fall for it. She reacted offended, "Threw the fight? I don't know what you were watching but it sure wasn't my fight. And I got the bruised ribs to proof it."

The woman just snorted. "Unless miss Twinkie was pounding you with a sledgehammer while I wasn't looking, I don't think so."

"And the bruises are just make-up, of course," Frankie retorted sarcastically. The woman had begun to slowly circle Frankie and Frankie also noticed that she seemed to use her hands a lot when talking. All in all, she got the impression that this chick only stayed put when she was sleeping.

"Nah, those are real. But they'll be gone by morning while the bruises you gave that girl are gonna last a few days at least. But I didn't come here to dish you about how you earn your money. Getting beaten up for money is better then beating people up for money. When did you start doing this anyway?"

"A couple of months ago. And I usually win my fights," Frankie added.

"Which is why you got paid so well to loose this one," the woman finished for her.

Frankie had had enough and decided to wipe that smirk of her face. She punched, making sure not to put too much force behind it. She just wanted to make it clear she wasn't taking this shit lying down. The woman didn't move but just took the hit to the cheek, which threw her head to the side.

Then the dark-haired woman looked Frankie in the eyes again, the same smirk still on her face. "My turn," she said and while Frankie was still processing those words pain suddenly exploded in her left cheek before she hit the ground. It took her time to collect herself before she scrambled to her feet again, fully expecting the woman to pounce on her at any time.

But she hadn't moved and was just observing her with obvious amusement. "You do that a lot? Trying to win an argument with your fists?" she inquired. "And you lost this one, by the way," she added as an afterthought.

Frankie didn't know how to respond. Her jaw was still a little numb from just that one punch and she hadn't even seen it coming, the woman had moved that fast. Which meant she had to be as freakishly powerful as Frankie had become which opened a whole other can of worms. Like what the hell this chick wanted from her if it wasn't about the rigged fight.

"I forgot to introduce myself to you, Francesca. Name's Faith."

"Only my mother calls me Francesca, everybody else calls me Frankie." Frankie grumbled.

Faith cocked her head again. "Yeah, you look like a Frankie. But I am still waiting for your furious-slash-uncertain demand where I got that name."

Frankie just shrugged and worked her jaw a little, the feeling was coming back but it was a mixed blessing.

"Okay," Faith drawled. She seemed to be at a loss how to continue. "Here's the thing. Demons are real, most of 'em are bad and Slayers kill them. And you and me, we be Slayers."

Frankie edged a little away. Not only was this Faith stronger and faster then her, she was also insane. Her luck just wouldn't make up its mind tonight on whether to be good or bad.

"Yea, yea, I know. You think I'm nuts since I got no proof except for your strength and the dreams you've been havin'." She was silent for a moment as she contemplated something. Meanwhile Frankie was conflicted between leaving and staying to see if Faith wasn't lying.

VVV

Frankie was still dubious about all this, but she had followed Faith to this bar anyway. Making certain to keep a good distance between them all the way, she wasn't completely stupid. And now they were standing in front of a metal door, with blue-neon letters simply declaring the place to be Willy's. No windows and she could only hear some noise coming from behind the door if she strained her hearing. Faith had never been to this place before. Frankie knew that for sure because Faith had to ask her for directions a couple of times and had hesitated a few times during the walk over here.

But now that she was here, Faith didn't hesitate but knocked hard on the door. A panel slid open and a large eye was looking at them. The eye was easily as big as the face on most people and it was blinking and looking at them. Frankie reassured herself that it had to be a trick, something to do with animatronics. She glared at Faith. She didn't like being taken for a fool.

Then the panel slid close again with a bang. The door wasn't opened immediately but the thing that did open it was tall, orange and it had some kind of plates in a double row running along the top of his head. It also had serrated teeth, like a crocodile, which it was displaying at the moment with what seemed to be fierce delight. Then it moved aside to let them in and Faith stepped in without hesitation and after a moment Frankie followed.

She was curious now how they had managed the giant eye thing, because they had obviously done a great job on that guy's make-up. It looked almost real. And she wasn't disappointed when she came in. The eye belonged to a small thing without feet but long, spindly arms. The eye was on a very long, flexible stalk while its mouths were arrayed along this stalk. The whole setup was very imaginative. It got even better when it started talking.

"Oh my," it said with its three voices. Each of which had a slightly different pitch. "I would never have expected to meet the Slayer, let alone two of them!"

Faith smiled, "Yea well I don't do autographs. You're a Spectum demon, right?"

"Oh yes, ma'am," it confirmed.

Faith nodded to herself before turning to Frankie to explain. "Spectum demons can determine what you are and what your intentions are just by reading your aura. So they make great bouncers, if you can find one and can afford the food they eat."

"Which Willy can," the 'Spectum' interjected. "But I think Judar wants you to move along, you are blocking the entrance." Judar had to be the orange fellow that was glowering at them. Faith just smirked at him, daring him to make a move but it wisely didn't.

The scene in the bar itself wasn't such a shock after the scene at the door. It looked like a muppet show, except they were all quiet and looking at them. Some in fear, some hostile, the rest just cautious or studiously blank. The only guy without make-up was coming at them, apparently he was one of the barkeepers. He just looked like a weasel to Frankie, but Faith seemed to recognize him.

And the barkeeper recognized her too. "Faith," he exclaimed a little too loud. The amount of fearful stares doubled. The man stopped before he was in arm's reach. "And one of those mini-slayers," he added with a lower voice. Frankie bristled, but was interrupted by one of the customers that had risen from its seat. It had horns, wore leather armor and he was towering over everybody.

Frankie didn't even see the axe the thing was swinging at them until she had landed on her butt. Faith had pushed out of the way even as she ducked under the swing herself. Willy meanwhile had thrown himself to the floor and was scrambling to put more distance between him and the fight.

Frankie watched as Faith quickly took charge of the fight. Not giving the guy the chance to use that axe again she stamped his knee with her left foot. That action produced a crunching sound indicating she had broken the thing's knee, it also howled for good measure. But Faith wasn't done and brought down her elbow on his right forearm while holding it with her right arm. Again she managed to break his bones and she swiftly wrested the axe out of his weakened grasp. Faith swiveled around and then swung the axe neatly decapitating the man.

By chance the head rolled to right in front of her, close enough to touch. She didn't know why but that is exactly what she did. She poked it with one finger. It had come to rest on its severed neck but that little push was enough to tip it over so that she could now see the vertebra and other stuff. It was a real severed head, not make-up. Bile rose up as she realized she had just seen a thing being killed right in front of her. Not a man but a…demon.

Faith kneeled next to her with a sympathetic look, still holding the axe in one hand. "Convinced yet?" Frankie's only answer was that she vomited.

TBC


	3. The game is afoot

A/N: And here it is, the third chapter. Not fully satisfied with it but why don't you all let me know what you think? Your reviews are appreciated.

**The game is afoot**

"Wise man say: forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."

- Michelangelo

**Slayer HQ, New York**  
Frankie was looking around, waiting in front of the empty front desk. The building looked big enough and the front door wasn't locked but nobody was in the lobby to greet her and nobody had come after she had loudly announced her arrival. To be fair she hadn't been to loud because she saw an opportunity to look around on her own. But the two doors leading further into the building were locked so now she was just waiting.

The front door opened again behind her and she turned to see who it was. It was a pale girl in sweats wearing sneakers. She looked kinda like a frightened rabbit at the moment and made a point of looking everywhere but at Frankie first. Only when she had done that and couldn't find a trace of anybody did she address Frankie. "Hi," she meekly said accompanied by a jerk with her head that could be a nod.

"Hi," Frankie greeted back. She took another good look at the girl who looked to be about her age. "You sick or something?"

VVV

Alice considered telling the confident latina a lie but hesitated. Alice did feel the same vibe coming from this girl that she had felt coming from Faith, although it seemed to be less powerful. And she also seemed to be waiting and didn't seem to recognize her. Which could mean that Faith had approached her like she had Alice and Alice wanted to start on a good footing with her possible co-worker. She had decided to take Faith's offer even before she had reached her home, because she didn't have much too loose anyway and saving Alice's life gave Faith a lot of credibility with her.

"Or something," Alice settled on. "Name's Alice, Alice Cooper. Faith, uh, approached you too?"

"Frankie," the girl said and held out her hand. Alice shook it and Frankie continued," Yeah, I met Faith last night. Told me the most ridiculous shit I ever heard and then proved it." Suddenly Frankie's grip on her hand intensified and she quickly rolled up her sleeve to expose her lower arm. Then she let the arm drop with a look of disgust. "And that something would be what exactly, junkie?"

Alice didn't know where to look, her mind grasping for something to say. It was then that she felt Faith approaching, her eyes automatically drawn to the door she knew Faith would be coming through in a few moments. Sure enough, she was right.

VVV

Faith entered the lobby seeing the two girls facing each other. Alice still looked bad, but the fact that she was here made Faith hopeful that she would sign up. Frankie was facing away from Faith but turned around when she heard the door opening. "You two introduced yourselves to each other?" Faith inquired.

"Yeah, we exchanged names." Frankie replied while giving a disdainful glance at Alice. The she looked back at Faith, "And you people are obviously not looking for the best of the best."

Faith gave a smirk, "Those already got their asses kicked. And we ain't the ones that choose who gets to be a Slayer. Don't know which ones upstairs do, just know you're born with the potential. What do you say we take this conversation to where they got chairs and a Watcher to explain things better."

Faith didn't even wait for their reply but simply expected them to follow. When Frankie and Alice caught up, Alice asked, "What's a Watcher?"

"Watchers are stuffy guys and girls who read a lot of books. They also used to order the Slayer around while they sat on their asses, sipping tea while contemplating ways to make life more difficult for her," was Faith's answer. Then she added as an afterthought, "Vishe is alright though." She led them through a long hallway with no doors, then the hallway turned left and that part did have some doors. Two to be exact, one on the end and a double-door midway on the left.

It was the latter that Faith opened and the girls were now looking at a very large room with a fireplace. The furniture looked antique, but Faith didn't treat it like that. She just sprawled on one of the chairs next to a short, balding man in a suit. The smell of hot coffee was coming from the pot on the table but neither girl wanted a cup at that moment.

Frankie whistled. "You people seen too many X-men movies."

"I was thinking more of that old Batman series," Alice added.

Frankie nodded, "Place seems a little big for just two people?"

"It is," Faith confirmed, "we're understaffed at the moment. But right now, time for a little show and tell." She waved a hand towards the man. "Meet John Vishe, resident Watcher. John, take it away."

"Ehm, nice to meet you," He directed at the two girls, then he turned to Faith. "Take what away?"

Faith sighed, "Great, ruin a dramatic exposition why don't you. Just start with the 'One Girl in all the world..' routine and we'll muddle through from there."

"Ahem, yes. Of course. Let's see, I've learned the words but I never thought I would recite them to a Potential let alone a Slayer." Faith gave him a look. "Right, getting to the point." Vishe took a deep breath before speaking, "Into each generation a Slayer is born, one girl in all the world, a Chosen One,  
one born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires and stop the spread of their evil. She is the Slayer."

"Okaay," Frankie responded after a minute of silence. "I thought vampires had fangs, not horns?"

"Vampires aren't the only monsters out there. Mister swing-and-a-miss last night was some kind of demon of the unfriendly persuasion. We just deal with vampires most of the time," Faith explained.

"Why did Mr. Vishe speak of only one girl in all the world?" Alice interjected.

"be-Because that is how it has been for thousands of years. Council records, I mean of the old Council, never spoke of even two Slayers existing at the same time. But that changed with Miss Summers." John seemed to forget others were in the room as he continued, "apparently it is only necessary that the current Slayer briefly stops living, like drowning or perhaps a heart attack would do it too. But we have also learned from Miss Summers second and third death that this mechanism does not reset itself."

"Second and third death?" Frankie interrupted. She turned to Faith, "you do get hazard pay for this shit, right?"

Faith grinned. "Nope, didn't get paid a dime until three months ago. Council wasn't big on independence, they liked their Slayers quiet, obedient and short-lived. New Council is a different story though. The new motto is by the Slayers, of the Slayers and for the Slayers."

"Very original," Frankie retorted.

Again it was Alice that went to the heart of the matter. "But what happened four months ago to change that 'one girl' rule?"

Vishe couldn't answer that one, he hadn't been there so it was left to Faith. "Last year the Big Bad decided to wipe out the Slayer line. That meant it was going after the Potential Slayers like you. To top things of it also had some army waiting in a hell dimension and that was just too much for just B. and me. So four months ago B. decided to change the rules. Red worked her mojo so all the Potentials we were guarding became Slayers. Long story short, we kicked ass and the world kept spinning."

Frankie blinked. "You know, I really should be worried about my lack of skepticism after that story. Just one question, who the hell are B. and Red?"

"I-I believe Miss Lehane, I mean Faith, is referring to Miss Summers and Miss Rosenburg." John supplied.

Faith nodded. "So now we got a whole lot of Slayers and we are busy tracking them all down. But we are not drafting you. Being a Slayer is important, it means you can make a difference but it is dangerous and you don't get any recognition for saving the world from demons. However, if you don't want to have anything to do with this, we can change it back. Make you normal again."

Frankie tried to interrupt her but Faith ploughed on, her face dead serious. "But there ain't no going back, you can't change your mind later on and become a Slayer again. If you give it up, you really give it up. I already told Alice that but you should both think hard before telling me what," and Faith told these last words with an enigmatic smile," your choice is.

**The Sewers**  
The last vampire finished his report. Shredder had sent the four he had inherited from his sire to the various vampire groups that lived in the city to deliver a simple message. Swear allegiance to the Foot or die. The response had been negative although none of the four were actually dusted.

Shredder had received them seated and had listened to them in silence. "Leave us," he commanded. His voice didn't betray what he thought but the four scurried away regardless. One of the Foot standing guard outside closed the curtain behind them. Both occupants remained silent as the four were still in hearing range.

But Tatsu did not hesitate to speak once that was no longer so. "Master, your enemies have insulted you. And those miserable creatures are the reason those enemies think they can do so without fear of punishment. Master, why do you keep those weaklings around?"

Shredder's eyes cringed in savage humor. "Because they are still of use to me. I wanted our future…'associates' to underestimate us. It gives us the perfect excuse to wipe out an obstacle." He now got up and strode to the table. There was a map of New York on it, which he began to examine and he beckoned Tatsu to join him. Tatsu himself was puzzled as to why they would need an excuse but remained silent and simply moved to the table too.

"Here," Shredder put his finger on the map, "is where we will start our operations once again." Tatsu gave him a questioning glance. "I never intended to remain here, among the waste of civilization. The junkyard was only meant to be a temporary base. There was where I wanted to rebuild the Foot in the event our original base was lost. But I will not let outsiders find this base as well. I want the vampire nest in that area eliminated."

Shredder chuckle had the same metallic quality as every sound that came from his mouth. "And now that I have fooled everybody into thinking I am weak I will show them I am not. And ensure that no one will stumble onto our base."

"But master, will they not look there first?"

"Of course they will! They will search the former nest as well as every sewer and abandoned building there. And never even consider that I might simply have bought the building. And that, Tatsu, is why they will bow before me in the end."

**The Sewers, the abandoned Metro station**  
"Hey guys, April's on!" Michelangelo cried out. The Turtles had been exhausted after their final battle with the Foot, not to mention the little lecture Splinter gave them on being caught on camera. But now they were waking up and of course Mikey had turned on the TV. It was a little late for cartoons but hearing a recap on the demise of the Foot would be equally entertaining.

As April ended introducing herself and started on the first segment, the other three Turtles finished seating themselves before the TV. "Last night, the only leader of the group called the Foot in police custody was murdered while being held at Kings County Hospital. The officer guarding him was also killed. But in a bizarre twist the body of the man, only known as Tatsu, was reported missing from the morgue the next morning. Police are working on the assumption that the same parties that killed him also stole his body, although they refused to speculate on a possible motive for the body theft.

In a related story, City workers finished clearing the collapsed pier where witnesses placed the other leader of the Foot, Uroku Saki, fighting four costumed performers from a nearby club. No bodies were found in the debris."

O'Neil was moving on to another news item but the Turtles weren't paying attention anymore. Raphael rose up. "I can't believe this! What the hell does it take to kill that guy? A stake through the hart?"

"Or silver bullets," Michelangelo offered.

"We haven't tried decapitation yet," Leonardo calmly suggested.

Now Donatello jumped in, "hose his painting with paint remover."

His brothers now looked at him askance then to each other. Donatello tried again, "You know, from The Picture of Dorian Gray?"

Again the other three Turtles shared a look. Mikey spoke up, "Donnie, we're going for classics here."

Donatello almost made another attempt to explain but then thought better and hung his head in defeat. None of them noticed Splinter's arrival until he spoke. "So, the Shredder has survived again."

"Yes, Master Splinter." Leonardo confirmed.

Splinter sunk into quiet contemplation for a moment before speaking. "Then we will resume your training immediately. I do not believe that, wherever the Shredder now is, his latest defeat has dampened his thirst for revenge."

"Will we ever stop him, Master?" Donatello asked dejectedly.

Splinter's tone was gentle. "Together the four of you can accomplish any task you set your minds too. This war will end one day and I have faith that you will be the victors. After all, the Shredder is not immortal."

**Waterfront, abandoned Warehouse**  
The sun had just set and the vampires in the nest were becoming restless. But none of them dared to leave until Klaas had given his orders of the night. Klaas Verbuuren as his full name was, had been around for a while. Nobody knew exactly when he became a vampire but he had staked his claim in the late 19th century and had weathered the occasional territorial squabbles between the vampire gangs without losing his life or territory.

Conversations halted abruptly after Klaas came into view. Dressed in clothes he had gotten in the eighties he purposefully strode to a soapbox that he always used to address his underlings. As always, he kept things brief and his voice left no doubt that he would not tolerate any disobedience. "As you all know, we have been getting a lot of out-of-towners lately trying to take-over what's ours. That idiot that came in a few hours ago is just the latest example. So none of you are going out alone and if you see an outsider hunting on our turf you take him out. If it's a group you get back here and tell me about it."

Now Verbuuren switched to another item. "Last night two Slayers came into Willy's." This surprised some of the vampires, apparently the gossip hadn't reached them yet. "So until we know what they look like, none of you maggots go after poor, defenseless, teenaged girls. I do not want a Slayer showing up here." This of course caused some unhappiness, but none were dumb enough to speak up.

Klaas opened his mouth again, but whether he simply wanted to dismiss them or give another order would never be known as the sound of breaking windows and splintering wood startled everybody. Men dressed up in green pajamas that covered them from head to toe quickly entered through the doors, windows and some were even jumping in through the roof. Only Klaas could see that a few of them also entered through the sewer, the supposedly guarded sewer.

His people were quickly encircled by the attackers and Klaas noted dismally that quite a few of them were armed with swords and long sticks. Perfect weapons against vampires. Some of the green-clad men made room to let a bald, Chinese fellow through dressed in something that looked like a dress. Klaas decided to be bold. "And what in the name of all that is unholy do you freaks think you're doing?"

But he was met only with silence and a grunt from the bald guy. Then the guy in the dress raised his left hand and finally spoke, closing his fist with the last word. "Ninja's, attack!" The ninja's did so yelling while Klaas his own people just stood there, but Verbuuren himself wasn't stunned. On the contrary, the order simplified the situation and left him with only one option.

"Kill them!" he roared and he pushed some of his men forward. Both to get them going and to clear enough space for him to step of his box. He had already picked who he was going to beat to a bloody pulp and he retrieved his brass knuckles as he advanced towards the only one not dressed in green. That guy was advancing towards him as well, easily swatting away any vampire that came into his path.

Verbuuren didn't have all his attention on the man coming towards him. From the corners of his eyes he followed the progress of the battle and he didn't like what he saw. His people were mostly unarmed and while the did seem to be stronger then their opponents, it was clear that they were not human after all. And the ninja's were definitely trouncing them in the skill department.

Klaas' only hope now to win this was to beat the leader and hope to hell these guys would back off. He swung first but baldy blocked it with a grunt and followed it up with a palm strike to the face that snapped Klaas' head back. But he managed to block the two follow-up kicks and retaliated with a jab of his left fist that sent his opponent reeling. But he stepped out of the way of the right uppercut that followed before planting a sidekick in Klaas his unprotected right side.

Baldy's next attack however was blocked again and he stepped back for a moment to look for an opening. But Klaas had been waiting for that and launched himself at his opponent, pushing himself to move faster. The first punch was a feint and his opponent fell for it, leaving him out of position to stop the real attack. A right punch to his face that lifted him off his feet and launched him back a good two meters before sliding to a stop.

But it was too late as by then; the attackers were finishing off the last of his people leaving Klaas alone in a circle of green-clad demons. Baldy was getting up again but Verbuuren didn't pay attention to him as a new figure made its entrance. He was dressed in some purple get-up with armor protecting his underarms and shins. Armor that was adorned with sharp blades. He also wore a helmet that obscured most of his face. The guy was trailed by four vampires carrying videocameras and Klaas recognized one as the clown that had delivered the ultimatum that afternoon.

Klaas surmised that he hadn't been fighting the leader of this pack after all. But he hadn't survived this long by giving up, or by hesitating. So he didn't wait for the guy to introduce himself or wax about how futile or foolish his resistance was. Klaas just threw a punch towards his midriff. It was caught effortlessly and he barely saw the return punch that landed in his gut.

While vampires didn't need to breathe, it still hurt a lot. Then the guy began squeezing Verbuuren's right fist. His bones and the steel of the knuckles resisted but then gave in and Klaas resultant scream drowned out the sounds of bones snapping and steel being bent. When his hand was finally released he could only look at it dazed, trying and failing to guess how long it would take for that to heal.

So caught up with his own pain he was that he didn't even notice that the guy in the armor had walked around him. But he snapped out of it when strong arms encircled his neck and grabbed hold of his head. In a reflex his hands came up in an attempt to dislodge his opponent but the simple act of moving his right hand caused blinding currents of pain to shoot through his arm and into the rest of his body, paralyzing it for several precious seconds.

When Klaas felt the guy pulling he didn't at first get what he was trying to do. But then realization hit him as he felt his own skin and muscles being torn apart. Oblivion came centuries later.

VVV

Shredder rose up again from his crouching position and now he spoke. He would not let the pathetic creatures that were taping him even now to speak for him ever again. There was no need for it anymore and soon no need for them at all. "You already know what I want. Tomorrow I will visit one of you, one that has not yet given his allegiance to the Foot. And the night after that and so on until all that remains is the Foot and," he briefly looked to the floor, "dust."

TBC


	4. Trials and Turtlelations

A/N: No Turtles in this chapter. I could write about them goofing off in their home but I didn't think it was enough. Will have them in the next though. And do try to review, I like reviews.

** Trials and Turtlelations**

"Remember the three key words for any Slayer: Preparation... preparation... preparation.  
That's one word three times."  
- Wesley and Buffy.

**New York, at night**  
Faith was looking at the house angrily. It didn't have anything to do with the weather, it was a little cold and damp from the slight drizzle earlier but it wasn't uncomfortable even on the rooftop she was standing on. Nor had it anything to do with the house itself. Faith was simply still shimmering from the encounter earlier that day with the local coven. 'Bunch of stuck-up bitches!', she ranted internally.

She had tried to dress in something that at least approached proper as she just didn't have the clothes to pull of respectable or fancy. And fancy was exactly where she was, the door had actually been opened by an honest to God butler. Apparently the New York Coven was not above using their skills for gain or flaunting it. Which left her ill at ease in the swanky digs she was waiting in now. She wasn't wearing leather pants or anything like that but she vaguely felt like she should have put on a dress.

_That only lasted for a moment before she shook it off. She was who she was, dammit, and she wouldn't pretend otherwise. If these witches were going to judge her on her looks only then screw 'em. So when a middle-aged woman finally came, Faith shook her hand with a smile and didn't even voice the comment that was on the tip of her tongue, 'better late then never.'_

_But the woman's, she had introduced herself as Mrs. Vanderen, words soured the smile in no time. She didn't waste time with talking about the weather and got straight down to business. "We have discussed Mr. Vishe's request amongst ourselves," She started. "And after careful deliberations we have unanimously decided to deny your request."_

"_What the fuck for?" Faith had been unable to prevent those words from leaving her mouth. "What do you people got against protecting people?"_

_Vanderen actually pulled up her nose as she looked Faith up and down. The words accompanying that move were even more denigrating. "Our objections are not with your stated goal, Miss Lehane, but with your organization and the… people it chooses to employ. Granted, the old Council did not always hold itself to its own lofty standards when accepting new members, your own Mr. Vishe comes to mind._

"_But we refuse to have any association with people such as yourself. You murdered several people while working for that warlock Wilkins. After that you continued to go against your calling by taking a two-year vacation in a LA jail. Only after you got bored did you break out and finally start being an actual Vampire Slayer. You are an absolute disgrace to your lineage and it has had some bad apples in the past."_

_Faith's earlier words had been born out of surprise, but now she was pissed. She tried to keep a lid on her temper though. "So you're telling me you don't give a damn if this city goes to hell even if you could have done something just because you don't want to work with me? You've been sniffing too much of your herbs or what? Besides, the new Council trusts me enough to send me here. So why can't you?"_

_The woman's smile was derisive. "Ah yes, the new 'Council'. Lead by a rebellious Slayer whose life span has been lengthened by dark magic on several occasions and an ex-demon worshiper who was fired from the Old Council. Miss Rosenburg, your main and apparently only witch, is even more notorious. There wasn't a magic user in the world that didn't feel her little dive into the dark side. If Miss Summers had finally done her job for once she would be dead instead of running around free and unsupervised. And complementing this deplorable trio is a one-eyed carpenter with no useful skills and who almost married a vengeance demon. The only reason he is on your new 'Council' is because he is their high school friend."_

_The disparaging words left Faith fuming but she wisely kept her mouth shut. Because if she did open her mouth it would start with cursing and probably end in Faith strangling the bitch. Mrs. Vanderen spoke up, apparently not noticing Faith's anger. "You may report to your Council that we do not want anything to do with them now or in the future. Don't call us and we won't call you." She got up and left without even saying goodbye._

Faith took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She had let Vishe email Cleveland about the local Coven's hostility and had kept the precise insults to herself. Instead, after finishing up that day's training of the girls she had gone out patrolling. She had finished that patrol earlier then normal on account of her leaving the house while it was still light outside. But instead of going home she came here.

Vishe had located the third girl, a sixteen year old, which meant Faith had to approach this one differently. She could go around the parents but that was plan B. Plan A however, was still vague and Faith had hoped inspiration would hit her if she saw where Petra Stone lived. So far it hadn't helped. The house was dark on the account that everybody inside was asleep. At least, Faith thought they were when she saw the front door opening and watched Petra sneak off.

Faith tilted her head towards the sky muttering, "Would it be too much to ask if the girl is just sneaking off to boink her 24-year old biker boyfriend?" There was no answer and Faith had the sinking feeling that it was too much to ask. But she didn't waste any more time and followed Petra on the rooftops.

And so they traveled, with Petra on the street and Faith leaping from rooftop to rooftop. But then Petra suddenly crossed the street and Faith froze thinking she was busted. So focused had she been on following Petra that she had missed the vampires that seemed to be Petra's target. But not anymore and she hurried to the edge of the roof to see if the girl needed help.

Petra didn't quip or even say anything. She just gave a flying kick to the head of the skinny one, sending him flying away from the homeless guy they had been feeding on. Which left the fat one, the contrast of his mocha skin and his yellow eyes made the latter seem to glow. Growling it carelessly dropped its meal and then moved surprisingly fast. He shrugged off the kick to the side and his own right punch went in unopposed.

Petra staggered back but kept her wits and ducked the follow up. Her counter-attack was a series of quick blows to the vampire's stomach. It clearly felt them and now it was the vampire's turn to stagger back. Petra now reached inside her jacket to pull out her stake and finish the fight. Only it was a really small one and it looked kinda like a… no it was a fucking pencil. And she missed the heart, the vamp was screaming up storm while clutching the 'stake'. Only problem with that was that Petra was still clutching it and was now stuck as well.

She was trying to let go but the vamp was holding it and her hands in a death grip. Worse, the skinny vampire was finally coming to and Petra wouldn't be able to defend herself now. Faith's eyes flew around trying to find the fastest way down, she needed something to break the fall a bit. Suddenly she had it, it had been right in front of her.

She took a deep breath before leaping off the roof, an impish impulse making her yell "Geronimo!" on her way down. She landed feet first on the shoulders of the fat vampire that had just stopped screaming. The impact caused the vampire to topple over taking Petra with him. Faith herself rolled on before fluidly rising to her feet. Petra was still scrambling backwards, the pencil forgotten, when Faith stood over the vamp. Wasting no time she plucked the pencil out of its chest to get a clean shot with her own stake.

One vampire dusted she focused her attention on the other vamp who was looking wide-eyed at her. Drawing her left arm holding the pencil back, she let the small piece of wood fly with all her strength. It went straight into his heart and actually managed to penetrate too. So now the two girls were alone in the alley. Petra broke the silence, "What are you?"

**Foot headquarters**  
Shredder sat in his throne as he observed the trials. The four vampires he had started out with had finally outlived their usefulness and were now providing him with some amusement. He had told them he would allow them to become full members of the Foot if they killed their opponent. Only problem was that their opponents were armed, while they were not.

Shredder watched with satisfaction has his men took out the older but incompetent vampires. The first three had been short affairs, not lasting beyond the first exchange of blows. Now the real fight was up, the one that should provide a little more spectacle. The most competent of the four against a Foot ninja armed with a short staff sharpened on both ends so it could kill a vampire.

The two vampires were alone on the mats, the other ninja's standing far enough back to give them plenty of room. Unsurprising it was the armed vampire that took to the offensive. He launched a series of blows that would have seriously hurt a human, but he wasn't fighting one. The casually dressed vampire, Timo was his name, blocked some and dodged others before retaliating with a leg sweep.

The Foot ninja jumped over it but was too late to avoid the follow-up kick to the head and he staggered back. But Timo got too confident as he tried to take advantage. A blow of the staff against his side and then his head stopped his advance, but Timo managed to dodge the thrust aimed for his heart that came after by dropping to the mat and rolling away.

Both fighters stood still as the assessed their opponent, then Timo flew into action. Closing the distance before the ninja could step back and use the superior range his weapon gave him. But Timo didn't go for his person, he went for the staff. A struggle ensued as both vampires tried to wrench it out of the hands of the other. The forces involved were too much for the mere wooden weapon and with a resounding crack it broke into three pieces.

The ninja still held the middle part but Timo now had two long stakes; the advantage was his and he ruthlessly made use of it. The ninja tucked the piece of wood he had into his left hand as he blocked Timo's attack. It was a combination of kicks and stabs that were dangerous more because of the power behind them than their technique. Timo then took a step back looking for an opening, but the Ninja had been waiting for that.

He quickly followed and delivered a devastating sidekick. At least, it would have been devastating if Timo hadn't reacted on reflex, jamming the stake held in his left and into the offending leg. A pained yelp shot across the hall, followed up by a string of curses as the ninja cradled his left leg. Now it was Timo's turn to dash forward sensing that victory and survival were at hand.

But the ninja wasn't standing still and ducked to pull out the make-shift stake. Timo had aimed for his heart but only hit air before he tripped over the kneeling vampire. Timo had actually tried to jump over him at the last second but he was simply too late. Timo flew through the air and he dropped the stake so he could use his hands to break his fall. It was unnecessary but such instincts were hard to loose.

Normally this was just a little annoying but this time it was fatal as the stake didn't land flat on the mat but its splintered end fell right into the groove between two mats. It would still have fallen over after that if not for Timo's body. It fell right onto the still standing stake, the sharpened end penetrating the body and going straight through the heart.

Nobody spoke as the limping ninja got up, staring at where his opponent had inadvertently staked himself. Finally, Shredder's voice cut through the silence, barely leashed anger permeating every letter. "Incompetent." Everybody turned to a now standing Shredder including the ninja that had just fought but he had barely turned or he gave a startled grunt. A stake was now stuck in his chest and Shredder's arm was returning to his side, the throwing motion so quick it had been a blur even to the vampires.

**The Stone's home, the next day**  
It was a Saturday and Gavin Stone was enjoying breakfast with his family. He didn't have to work in the hospital today and his wife was off from work too so they was no rush, they had time to actually enjoy the food and the company. His daughter however seemed to have some trouble with that. She was more playing with her cereals than eating them, she looked nervous.

Seeing that caused worry to cast clouds in his mind. His daughter had just been a typical teenager until recently. Loathing school, listening to noise Gavin thought could at best be described as resembling music and boys of course. Something he had prayed she would only start to notice at 18, or even better at 30, but he just hadn't been that lucky. The only thing that had annoyed him about her was her obsession with some singer. A woman called Beyond or something. Petra even went as far as to dye her hair in the same color.

Then things went wrong. Starting a couple of months ago his daughter had begun to have nightmares. Strange ones about girls fighting monsters. But that hadn't been the really weird part. At the same time she had become far stronger, her senses suddenly becoming much sharper. Gavin was a doctor so he had begun looking for an explanation himself. He had examined her, even snuck her into the hospital to do some tests.

And he hadn't found a thing, to all appearances his daughter was in perfect health. He had even accused her of taking drugs but that had proven to be a false accusation too. All it had done was hurt his daughter; it didn't bring him one step closer to finding a cause, let alone a solution. He didn't have a clue to what was happening with her even now. The only positive development was that the nightmares seemed to have stopped and only the physical symptoms remained.

He watched how his daughter took a deep breath, apparently getting ready to say something. 'Here it comes', he thought.

"Mom, Sad, I got to tell you something. I know you won't like it but I just had to do it, you know. The dreams were sending me crawling up the wall, I needed to do something and I did. I am sorry to disappoint you but not that I did, so there it is." And she stopped, looking at her parents expectantly.

The worry intensified but he tried to keep things light and smiled at his wife. He saw the same worry reflected in her eyes but she too kept to levity. "You haven't actually told us what it is, dear. So why don't you start at the beginning and we will work our way up or down from there."

"Oh right," Petra said. "Right, the beginning. Well, you know of those nightmares I had and how nothing seemed to stop them until they stopped and you didn't know why but I do and…" Gavin just gave her a meaningful look. This wasn't like at all. Alright, it was but she usually got herself together after the first rant so she must be really be worried.

"And there I go again," Petra muttered. Then she dropped the bomb. "I've been sneaking out. At night."

Gavin just blinked. His wife had a better response. "How long", she softly asked.

"A few weeks. I just felt this need to go out and find something, I wanted to…hunt." Oh, that sounded ominous. But she wasn't finished. "And still, with everything that happened before, I wasn't ready when I actually found one."

"Found one what?" I urged her on.

"A monster." Oh shit! "A vampire, he attacked me but I fought back. Next thing I know a piece of wood is sticking out of his chest and he just goes poof."

'Oh shit, she's delusional and she might just have hurt someone. Killed someone even! What the hell do I do? How can I make this better?' Those were the thoughts running through Gavin's mind.

Petra, however, kept talking. "Last night things didn't go so well. There were two of them this time and I missed the heart, for some reason they only go poof if you hit the heart. Anyway, that was when that other girl dropped in. She just took 'em out like they were nothing.

"Turns out I'm not alone. There are girls like me, Slayers she called them, and apparently we are supposed to hunt those things. Anyway, she told me she could train me but I had to come clean with you guys first. She didn't want to go behind your backs."

"That's considerate of her." Gavin's wife had managed what he couldn't, keep her calm. But he tried to follow her example. He wasn't sure if questioning the delusions was the right course, he wasn't a psychiatrist. But he just had to try and she how firmly she believed in this fantasy. "She gave you a name?"

"Yep, called herself Faith. Gave me a business card too." That opened up even more frightening possibilities to Gavin. Either she was so far gone that she manufactured evidence for her fantasies and then promptly forgot she had done so or…or she was telling the truth. "Here," and Petra held up a white business card with the initials NWC on it.

Gavin was proud his hand wasn't shaking. The card didn't have a logo or anything but those letters, a phone number and the words 'New York branch' on it. Petra began to talk again. "She said you were going to have questions and that you should call her to set up a meeting. And that I am not a superhero so I still have to go school." She added petulantly.

Gavin exchanged looks with his wife once again. 'Only one way to find out,' Gavin concluded. He went to the phone and dialed in the number. The phone rang twice before it was picked up. It was a man's voice with a New York voice and Gavin actually felt relieved that he didn't get this Faith on the phone. But he still had to make certain.

"Ah, hello. I am Gavin Stone, is there a Faith there?"

"Ah yes, Petra's father. Ehm, Faith is training the girls in the gym right now, give me a moment and I will go fetch her." He almost dropped the phone as the reality of his daughter's confession hit home.

TBC


	5. That was the plan

A/N: Been a while since the last chapter. Hope you will all enjoy it. As always, I am indebted to Urgo the Observer, my tireless betareader. This story wouldn't be readable without him.

**That was the plan**

"You know, if I had a face like yours, I'd try to make up for it with some kind of a personality."  
- Raphael.

**Just outside New Calvary Cemetery, at night**

"And here we are," Faith concluded.

"Yes, here we are." Frankie agreed. "Right in front of an eight foot high fence. Is now the time your gonna tell us how to become incorporeal or should we start hunting for the gate?"

"Ya still don't get it, Shirley. Watch," Faith replied. And with those words she leapt from a standstill right over the fence to land on the other side. Both Frankie and Alice looked wide-eyed at that, despite the training they had been getting. Faith pulled them out of it though; they didn't have the time to stand around looking stupid. "Alright, now you two."

Frankie was first, she took a deep breath first before crouching then launching herself up with all her strength. She went even higher than Faith, easily clearing the fence. Then the ground started to come towards her again and with a shriek she barely managed to land on her feet. Alice too managed the jump albeit barely, her landing on the other hand was almost a duplicate of Faith's.

"Not bad Wonderland. So now that Shirley here managed to alert everybody in the cemetery, let's go meet our vamp for tonight." Frankie quickly caught up with Faith with Alice trailing behind, but Faith turned her head to look at Alice for a moment. The girl looked better and was doing better but she and Frankie still weren't getting along.

Alice was still getting to terms with what being a slayer meant and still lacked confidence in her own ability, and Faith would be damned if she let the girl out on patrol before she got it. Frankie interrupted her thoughts. "How did you find out about this," Frankie had to look for the word," fledgling?"

"Vishe told me about a barbecue-fork accident, that's the official story anyway." And where he had found the time to do the digging was beyond Faith. Ever since the book shipment had come in, Vishe had been locked up in the library. Faith hadn't seen him in three days which also meant she had to do all the paperwork.

"Barbecue-fork?" Alice asked.

Faith nodded. "A Sunnydale classic. The other ones are gangs on PCP, wild animal attacks and exploding make-up kits."

This time it was Frankie. "Exploding make-up kits?"

Faith just shrugged, "Didn't get that one either. And we're here. Please, no photographs, the undead are camera-shy."

They gathered around the freshly dug grave and then they waited. Frankie though, didn't have much patience. "Can't we get this guy to speed it up. Like, knock on his tombstone or something?"

Faith sat on the aforementioned tombstone. "You got a weird mind Shirley."

"Will you stop calling me Shirley!" Frankie shot back.

Faith's retort was halted by Alice's hesitant voice. "Ehm, I think he is waking up."

Alice now got the attention of both women. "How can you tell?" Faith asked.

Alice shrugged, "I can just…tell. I can feel it moving, coming up." The end of that sentence was punctuated by a hand shooting out of the ground followed by the rest of the man. He wore the suit he was buried in and he was big. Build like a boxer in fact, both Alice and Frankie took a step back while the vampire blinked owlishly at his surroundings.

"He's al yours Shirley, just don't dust the sucker."

Frankie didn't waste time but attacked. A kick in the back of the newly risen vampire's knee to cut him down to size and a follow-up punch to the face to knock him to the grass. But the punch was blocked and the vamp then slipped out a sledgehammer from somewhere and planted it right in Frankie's face.

That was how it felt to Frankie anyway, as she got back up from the ground herself. "Did I forget to tell you he is an amateur boxer?" Faith said.

"Yes, you did." Frankie shot back annoyed.

Now the vampire waded into the conversation. "Who are you people? And where the fuck am I?"

"Cemetery" was Frankie's helpful reply. She punctuated it with a two-punch combo that drove him back. But his confusion was clearing up fast as the attack woke instincts both old and new. The next punch was blocked and then it was the vampire's turn. His own attack ended with Frankie literally flying backwards.

The vampire looked amazed at his own hands. "I was dead. And now, I'm not. In fact, I have never felt this alive." His eyes returned to the rising Frankie. "And for some reason, I want to celebrate it by drinking every drop in your body, little girl." He managed to put a lot of menace into those words.

Frankie wasn't impressed though. "Little!" She hollered indignantly. "I'll give you little, you overgrown fangface." She launched herself at him, ducking below his punch and belting him in the stomach. But she only got that one punch in and the vampire blocked the following punches. But the vampire wasn't the only one neglecting his defenses.

A quick punch to the side took her by complete surprise and halted her assault; the punch to the chest rocked her back, as did the punches that came after that. One uppercut later Frankie was once again airborne and the vampire was gloating, also once again. "Shirley," Faith cut in, "stop playing his game and start fighting your way."

Frankie shot an angry look at Faith for the interruption, then the words registered and comprehension followed a second later. "Right, boss lady." Frankie sprung up and charged as Faith shouted an indignant "Hey". Again the vampire tried to use his superior reach and attacked before Frankie could. But this time Frankie caught the arm and used it to throw him through a headstone. That took Frankie by surprise, she had figured he would be stopped by the stone slab.

"Alright, Shirley. Nicely done, but I think we should give Wonderland her shot before you wreck the cemetery too much." Frankie shrugged and sauntered back to Faith as Alice took a deep breath and started stalking uncertainly towards the still groggy bloodsucker. "Come on Wonderland, shoulders straight! You're a Slayer, keep that in mind."

Alice nodded and actually straightened up. Her breath was still a bit shallow and doubt was gnawing at her shaky resolve. Faith watched it with concern, she had to face the demons she was going to fight but a defeat could ruin her chances of ever getting on top of her self-doubt. Faith had several reasons why she wanted Frankie to face the vamp first, some even had to do with Frankie. She for example had way too much confidence, which was something that could undo a Slayer even more than lacking it.

Meanwhile, round 2 was about to get underway. The vampire had gotten up and Alice was slipping into a fighting stance. "Who the hell are you people?" The vampire asked.

"Vampire Slayers," Faith responded.

That drew a wide-eyed stare from the vampire. "I'm a vampire?" He said incredulously.

Faith just rolled her eyes, while Frankie started laughing intermitted with a series of soft auws as her ribs still smarted. When Frankie had her laughter under control she got her own dig in, "You'd think the whole "I want to drink you dry' would be huge clue already. Guess they suck the brains out with the blood."

Alice was ignoring the banter, instead she was mentally reviewing everything Faith had thought her these past few weeks. She had studied the way this vampire had fought and had paid close attention to Faith's advice to Frankie. She knew how she was going to open this fight, but she was uncertain if she could follow through.

But the vampire offered her a golden opportunity. With a "Screw this!" he turned and started to run away. Before Faith could say a word, Alice was hot on his heels. The chase was short and ended with Alice adapting a little skill she had picked up just that night, how to jump a fence. She landed on his back and drove a fist into his half-turned face as they went down.

She managed to get two more shots in before she was swatted away with a roar. The angry vampire didn't have fleeing on the mind anymore and rushed to finish of the girl. She wasn't ready and caught a cross punch to the face, half turning her body. Her own swing was wild, powerless and easily blocked. The answering backhand from the vampire was not.

The undead boxer chuckled. "Should've stayed home." But Alice wasn't defeated yet. Once again she launched herself at him. This time she was greeted with a sloppy kick but she was already sidestepping it when the vampire was still preparing it. Instead she jumped on top of a gravestone and used it to counter the vamp's height advantage.

A sweeping kick to the head did nothing good to a face that was already marred by several bruises. She jumped over his counter-attack and landed behind him. She kicked him in the back of his right knee as she got up to drive him to his knees. She swiftly snaked her arms around his head before giving a sharp twist and a jerk accompanied by the sound of breaking bones.

She immediately let go of the vampire that sagged to the ground like a sack of potatoes and stared at her own hands with fear and a little bit of awe. "Not bad," Faith interrupted. "But you better finish it off," and she tossed Alice a stake. Alice had to scramble to catch the piece of wood and almost dropped it. She swallowed and once again approached the silently screaming vampire. She had to remind herself that he wasn't human since his demonic visage had slipped after the fight.

With a quick move she stabbed the thing, getting the heart in the first try. She watched as the thing turned to dust. "Just a demon," she consoled herself softly.

"Just a vampire," Faith corrected her. "Not all demons are actually bad, which is something else you'll learn all about before I let you two loose on the streets."

"Aw, come on." Frankie said. "Even Alice here can kick ass now, so why the hell can't we go out and stake some undead bloodsuckers already?"

"You want to know why? Cause I ain't gonna let you loose on this city with the lousy quips you got going right now." Alice had to laugh hysterically at that. She didn't know why, it wasn't that good a joke.

**Abandoned Subway Station, that same night**

With a grunt Raphael turned the TV off. Once again, April hadn't mentioned the Foot at all on her show. It had been the agreed upon signal if she had found anything. But neither she, Keno or Casey had heard anything about the Foot in weeks. No rise in crime and no professors being kidnapped, just nothing.

Raphael had enough of waiting around, time to do something. He threw on his raincoat along with a beat-up backpack and was reaching for his hat when he heard the inquisitive noise Splinter made when he wanted to know what you were going to do and he hadn't made up his mind yet if it was a good thing. Splinter could condense it to 'hmmm'.

"I'm going to find the Foot myself," he said defensively.

Of course Leo had to have heard that. "You're going to do what?"

"I am going to do something, Leo. You might be okay with hanging around and letting our friends do our job for us, but I'm not."

"Hey, I am not 'hanging around'. But if we go out there, they might just follow us back here. We were lucky to find this place, where the hell would we go if the Foot found out about it? Well, genius, got an answer for that one?"

Yeah, I do." Raphael shot back. "I ain't coming back. I'll crash with Casey or Keno, kid can use the training."

"And lead them straight to our friends instead, brilliant Raph. Or maybe your plan is to get captured, again." Leo inched closer at 'again'. "One of these days we won't be fast enough to safe you."

"Hey, they only caught me once. And they already know about our friends, Leo. Or did you forget how Shredder got his little threat to us? It was only a few weeks ago!" He emphasized the word weeks.

Leo sucked his breath in, but was prevented from venting by Splinter. "Enough!"

Splinter sighed and approached his two surrogate-sons. "You are right to be patient, Leonardo." This produced a grumble from Raphael and a smile from Leonardo.

"However, it does sound like you have thought your actions through, my son." He was addressing Raphael now who was looking back with uncertainty. "You may go, but call us once you have a place to stay and call us every night."

"But Master Splinter…" Leo's objection was cut off by a gentle gesture from Splinter.

"No, my son. You are right that we cannot all go, for our chances of being discovered would multiply exponentially. And with the Foot remaining so quiet, April has little chance of finding them. But a ninja might be able to find them." He turned a strict eye on Raphael, "If he is very careful."

"I will, Master Splinter. Thanks." And he was off, not wanting to wait around for Splinter to change his mind.

Leo watched him go with an undeterminable look. "You are worried," Splinter surmised. "As am I, but risk is a part of life. Do not shun it, simply for its danger my son. Or you may never truly live." He shot a look at the ladder leading to the sewers. "Of course, you should look before you leap too. Something that your brother has finally learned."

"I…will think about that, Master." Splinter nodded and retreated back into his metro car supported by a cane. Leo watched him go with some worry. Then he made his way to Donatello's corner of their lair. Hopefully Donny had found something useful on his computer. But he was disabused of that hope when he got there. Donatello was pleading to the monitor that wasn't showing much at the moment while the computer itself was making some odd noises.

"What's up, Donny?"

"Hmm? Oh, hard drive gave out on me again." He began fiddling with it and apparently managed to get it going again after only a short time. Only then did he turn to address Leonardo. "Before you ask, I wasn't looking for the Foot when it happened. I already exhausted every possibility there."

Not what Leo wanted to hear. "Damn, now we can't call Raph back." Seeing Donatello's puzzlement, Leo sat down and explained what happened. After giving that brief explanation, he continued with, "What were you looking for anyway?"

Donny sighed. Leo suddenly noticed a lot of people seemed to be doing that today. "I was brushing up on my genetics."

Leo blinked. "Why?"

"Because Professor Perry's explanation just didn't sit right with me. And before you say anything, I got some logical reasons for it too. Think about it, the ooze is supposed to be a waste product, an unstable one at that. But when you look at the results, that's not the case."

"How do you mean."

"Leo, the ooze transforms every animal it comes into contact with into a bipedal, sentient person. Even Tokka and Razar were pretty smart compared to what they were before the ooze. Even if the ooze did the same kind of mutation on every animal, it should have a different effect depending on the species. Instead, it produces the same result no matter what species."

Leo pondered that for a moment. "That does sound a little odd…"

"A little odd," Donatello broke in. "Try a lot! Leo, it's impossible for some kind of chemical to have such a similar result in such different circumstances. There's more to it, but I have no idea what." He spared a look for his computer, which had finished booting. "And I am not going to find out what with this. To get the answers I need a real lab, but I can't even go into a store and just buy a PC. I had to assemble mine from junk."

Donatello continued in a much quieter voice, "ever wonder what we'll do with our lives?"

Leo was taken aback by that, he hadn't in fact. "Not really actually. I figured on training more, maybe see something of the world."

"I got the brains to go to college, but what college would accept me? I love science Leo, but looking like this I will never be able to contribute anything to it. To be honest, I can't imagine living in the shadows for however long we are going to live. Which brings me to another worry."

This had been a disconcerting conversation already, but Leo didn't let that discourage him. "What's that."

"Splinter," Donatello summarized in one word. "I don't think he's ever recovered from Shredder's torture and he's getting old. I have no idea how the ooze affected our lifespan, but even if we have a human-sized one Splinter is nearing the age where he is going to need some medical attention. And where would we take him, a doctor or a vet? Let's face it, nobody knows that much about our physiology, not even us. We're lucky that we haven't gotten sick, I mean really sick yet."

"You talked about this with anybody else?" Leo asked.

"No, I think Splinter is already worrying about some of it and I didn't want to weigh Mickey down with this."

Leo nodded. "And Raph?"

"Haven't talked to him either, didn't think he would know what to say to this."

Leonardo thought that over. "You'd be surprised."

**New York, a run-down factory somewhere**

It was a diverse group of people that were gathered in the barely lit hall. Some were standing alone, keeping an eye on everybody and everything. Others were talking in small groups with hushed voices, also keeping an eye on their surroundings. That is how they noticed that they were surrounded, with masked figures silently stalking out of the shadows.

They recognized the figures from the video each one of them had gotten. They had all been masters of their own little domain, until that video had arrived. Some had caved in immediately, others had to be convinced by seeing their fellows massacred. But all present had given in and were now waiting for the new master of the city.

And arrive he did, in a rather dramatic fashion. He plummeted from the sealing, his legs bowing slightly to absorb the impact. He silently observed them for a moment, the metal of his armor shining in what little light there was.

None spoke, the gathered leaders because they were too scared and ninja's because they knew this was their master's show. "You are here tonight, so that you will know me." Shredder began, then he quirked his mouth although that was invisible under his helmet. "And so that I might know you."

"For centuries you pitiful creatures have been living in the shadows and waste of your own food. You are supposed to have their knowledge and none of their weaknesses. And yet here we are, gathered not in some luxuriant conference room but in an abandoned building of the humans."

Some of the vampires shuffled their feet at that. "I am here to tell you that will now change. Under my leadership this city will belong to us, as is our right. I am your future."

"What about the Slayers?" Someone in the back said.

He replied scornfully, "Ah, yes. Four girls with barely any training against hundreds of demons, I can see our certain doom."

An Asian woman, barely coming to Shredder's chest was the one with enough courage to ask the question the others had at hearing that statement. "Four of them? I thought there only three."

"They have found another. Just because you overestimate their threat does not mean I underestimate them," He replied. "I am keeping an eye on them and I have a plan to deal with them as well." That brought the concern back, which turned into puzzlement after Shredder's next statement. "They are Slayers, I shall give them something to slay." And an unholy gleam of mirth now shone in his eyes.

TBC


	6. Random Encounters

A/N: I am somewhat dissapointed that I didn't get any reviews for my last chapter. Please take a minute to do so even if you didn't like my story. Because it is to reviews, both positive and negative, that I learn to be a better writer. Thank you.**  
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**Random Encounters**

"Who knows, with any luck, they'll kill each other. Then everyone's a winner.  
Everyone, of course, meaning me."  
- Mayor Wilkins

**Slayer HQ, morning**  
The kitchen was pretty big, it had to be to accommodate over a dozen hungry Slayers at a time. But at the moment there were only three Slayers in the entire house, so it was a very spacious affair and all three of them were taking advantage of that.

"You know," Faith started, "you could just move in. You're practically living here already." The suggestion was directed at Frankie, who was in the midst of slaying a stack of pancakes.

Frankie couldn't respond right away as her mouth was full. "Yeah, but I…" And then she stopped as she realized that what she was going wasn't true anymore. She had gotten to know Faith and Vishe and she sorta trusted them now. And they seemed to be doing a good job with Alice, she actually seemed to recovering from her addiction. Frankie hadn't figured she had the strength for that.

"If you're talking about me eating here all the time, that is your fault. All that training gets me hungry and I ain't gonna pay for all that food if I can get you to foot the bill. What's the policy about pets?" She asked instead.

Faith blinked. "Well, you best keep them away from the crossbows 'cause they really don't mix. Also, I think Vishe would have a heart attack if your pet got into the library. What kind of pet are we talking about anyway?"

"Don't know, haven't decided yet. But they get real retentive about them were I live right now." Alice took a gulp of orange juice. "Walls are thin too so the offer is starting to sound tempting. I'll let you know, okay?" And with that she returned her attention to her pancakes.

Faith's own attention was called away by Alice who was watching the news while having her own breakfast. "Ehm, Faith. You think this might be a job for us?"

Faith looked at what news program Alice was watching. Channel 6 news, Vishe had said that a good reporter called April O'Neil worked for that station. In fact, Faith was reasonably certain that it was her who was on right now. She was right in the middle of a story about some missing people. Apparently they had vanished the night before and had cleaned out their bank accounts last night. "They join a growing number of people who have fallen victim in the same way. The victims have nothing in common except the fact they went out at night. Chief Sterns claims the cases are in fact not connected but does caution people to be careful when they go out at night." And that was the end of that segment.

Faith thought it over, people being kidnapped at night when they weren't home and then reappearing for a short time to get their money away. Could be vamps, but they would go after their families too. "Any place particular that it is happening?"

"Well, most disappearances happened in Manhattan. Haven't heard anything more specific than that. So, this really could be up our ally?"

"Could be vamps, but this city is supposed to be carved up already and they don't like to share. Could be something else, I'll ask Vishe to shake a few trees and see what falls out."

Faith nodded to herself. "And I'll get him to find out where the most people have disappeared and patrol there tonight. Which means you two get to patrol this side of the river tonight."

Frankie's reaction was 'finally' but Alice was a little more reserved. "You think we're ready?"

"For patrol, yeah. As long as you don't try taking out a nest or take on a demon you've never seen before. If those things come up, you call me. That's what the cellphones are for." Faith took a sidelong glance at Frankie before setting her final condition. "And you walk Petra back to her home before your patrol, gonna be dark when her training ends and I don't have the time for it tonight."

**St. Mary Park**  
"Somebody help me!" A jogger was shouting. She had been running when these two girls suddenly lunged at her and dragged her into the park. They were incredibly strong and had only laughed at her struggles to get free. Then she was thrown against a tree and it was after recovering from the impact that she had issued her call for help.

A call that amused her captors. "Shout all you want, nobody around to help you." One said, a dirty blond one dressed unremarkably. The other one, with fiery red hair and startling green eyes, looked like she was stuck in the seventies. It was the redhead that then said something truly bizarre. "And if they tried, they'd just be dessert."

That was when two more strange things happened. One was that both their faces morphed into something inhuman. Vicious yellow eyes set in deformed faces peered at her above mouths that now sported real life fangs. The other strange thing was the arrival of a man brandishing a hockey stick and wearing a hockey mask to boot!

The two girls hadn't noticed though, not until the guy began to talk. Apparently he had caught the last remark.

VVV

Casey had been out patrolling when he had seen the jogger being dragged into the park in the distance. The fact that her attackers appeared to be two girls, barely out of their teens was unusual but Casey could work with that. He had absolutely no problem with hitting girls, not when they started it.

After a short sprint he was relieved to see the jogger hadn't been harmed yet although those last words didn't fill Casey with confidence that this was just a mugging. "I knew Tyson was a bad role model," he bantered.

But he was in for one more shock when the two girls turned around. Both of them had yellow eyes, eyebrow ridges and fangs. But he wasn't the only one that was surprised.

"What the hell?" Said the blonde one.

The redhead was a little more direct. "Dude, what are you on?"

They didn't seemed to be armed themselves but strangely unconcerned about the guy with the hockey stick. Not good and he got sinking feeling these two weren't wearing masks. "Ain't it a little late for Halloween?"

But they ignored him to argue with each other. "Let's start with this guy. Whatever he is on it has to be good," proposed the redhead.

The blonde was unsure, "I don't know Sunshine, last time I drank from a druggie I was staring at my own hand for hours. Almost missed the sunrise."

Okay, so these two had fangs, afraid of the sun and talked about drinking from people. Coupled with the faces Casey was pretty sure he was facing two honest to God vampires here. 'Just great', he thought to himself. 'First it's giant, talking turtles and ninjas, now I'm fighting vampires. Aren't there any regular, human muggers in this city left?'

A sound broke up the confrontation and brought the attention of the three people back to the jogger who was trying to get away. Casey, seeing the two vampires distracted, took the opening and attacked. A slice to Sunshine's knee brought her down and he caught the blonde with the back swing. But she shrugged the blow to the face off without pause.

She growled and launched herself at him. Casey wasn't stupid and sidestepped her, letting her gut meet his stick instead. A hard blow to the back of her head sent her sprawling but left Casey with a predicament. He had no idea what it took to stop these things. A stake, decapitation or maybe stuff their mouths full of garlic bread? Casey just didn't know and he realized to late he had forgotten about Sunshine.

Two slim hands took a painful hold on his body before he was launched into the air, only coming to a stop after meeting a tree. He got up as both of the vampires were approaching him. He had lost his stick during his brief flight so he took his baseball bat from his bag instead. "Batter up," he said. He had a sinking feeling he had bitten of more then he could chew but he wasn't going down without a fight.

His swing was accurate, fast and Sunshine stopped with just one hand. She did grimace so she must have felt the impact but that didn't do Casey any good as she wrenched it out of hands and contemptuously threw it away. Again she threw him away, this time he landed close to the other one. Apparently she wanted to share her meal.

His attention was completely focused on the blonde and his struggle to get his body back under control so he could stand up. The blonde vampire wasn't paying any attention to anything but him either so the first clue for either of them that a new player had entered the ring was the sound of Sunshine turning to dust.

The blonde uselessly cried the other vampire's name, which managed to get a grin from the brunette that had killed her. "Her name was Sunshine? Ha, almost as funny as a vampire called Sunny!"

"There is nothing wrong with my name!" the remaining vampire declared indignantly.

The woman gave her a level look. "It's the whole sun allergy thing. Makes sun-related names ironic. And that concludes today's English lesson, next class is History. Guess who the subject is."

"You," the vampire snarled. She rushed the girl, moving inhumanly fast. But the other one was faster and kicked her in the stomach. The vampire doubled over and got a stake planted in her back. As she turned to dust the brunette declared, "Afraid you're going to fail this class Sunny." Then the brunette turned her attention to Casey, giving him a once over. "And who are you supposed to be, Jason's good twin?"

"Something less insane." Casey said as he slowly got up while keeping a weary eye on the girl that was obviously more than human.

She snorted. "Yeah, cause the hockey mask screams sanity."

Casey couldn't keep his curiosity in check so he blurted out, "What are you?"

This seemed to insult the girl. "And you're welcome. Saving your life really wasn't a problem, I'm sure you would've done the same. Oh stop, you're making me blush." She had said it with a high voice, but used her regular one to deliver her next line. "If you're bent on running around like that at least carry something sharp, for fuck's sake. Were you planning on beating a vampire till it staked itself?"

"I wasn't…" But he was interrupted by a cellphone going off. It was hers, she took a quick look at the display before answering the phone. She didn't give the caller time to speak before she asked, "what's wrong?"

She listened to the other's side explanation, which apparently was pretty lengthy. Her reply wasn't, "just call her parents first to let them know Petra's sleeping at our place tonight then head back to the batcave. Wait, better let Petra do that but tell her to be vague. Don't want to worry them too much." The conversation was pretty much over after that and the woman returned her attention to Casey.

"Gotta motorvate, was nice meeting you. But do yourself a favor and get out of the demon hunting business." And with that she was gone.

"But I wasn't…" He left the rest unsaid, no sense in speaking to empty air. "I am going back to looking for the Foot, that's a lot safer."

**Near the Stone's home**  
"Are you sure they are still in the city Raph?" Keno asks. "Because they weren't this hard to find last time."

They were walking back after checking out yet another possible location where the Foot could be holding up. Keno hadn't heard a thing so far and he was starting to think that that Shredder guy had learned his lesson. Or maybe his body fell into the water and he didn't really survive.

"Trust me, kid. They are out there. Shredder kinda has an obsession about killing us, he ain't gonna stop just cause we beat him every time. Nah, the reason we haven't found them is because they're ninjas. You won't find us if we don't want to be found."

"Oh, right. So you wanted me to step on your toe?"

Raphael narrowed his eyes, remembering how they first met. "Very funny kid." Then he sighed. "Alright, you got a point. So we can be found, sometimes. But my point is, you had a clue about where we were. And right now, we got zilch."

"Yeah, but where the hell are we going to find one. It's not like a Foot ninja is just going to drop out of the sky in front of us." They were just walking under a tree at that point in the conversation when someone dropped out of it. He kicked out and planted his foot into Keno's face, propelling the pizza courier backwards. The attacker made a backflip and landed on his feet, looking at Raphael.

"Keno!" he uselessly cried out before returning his attention to Keno's attacker. He was wearing dark green, almost black, outfit and a red headband. In the back of Raphael's head caution was warning him that a Foot would never attack on his own just for the fun of it. But right now he was just too angry to stop and think what this guy's plan was. He was just going to beat it out of him.

The ninja must have read his intentions because he turned around and began to run away. "Hey, come back here you!" Raphael shouted at him as he began to pursue. From a glance he had seen Keno stir so he knew he would get up soon.

Whoever the guy was, he could sure run. Raphael had already lost his hat in the chase and was thinking of getting rid of the coat too so he could pour on a little more speed. But he didn't want to slow down for as he was loosing ground already so for now the coat stayed on. The ninja tried to shake Raphael by ducking into alleys and side streets.

Raph noticed that the ninja had taken off his mask and he was wondering why he had done that when he took yet another corner and vanished out of sight again. "When I get my hands on you." He threatened him right before taking the corner himself. He saw too late that he was about to collide with someone but that other person reacted fast. A kick to his stomach didn't just stop him dead but actually drove him back a couple of feet.

VVV

Petra was berating herself for being so stupid. She had convinced Alice and Frankie that she could walk the last two blocks to her home alone. She had barely walked a block though when a man had come barreling around the corner. He had told her a monster was after him and to run after which he had done so himself. 'But not me,' she thought. 'Nope, I was too busy deciding if I wanted to be a hero. After all, I've killed vampires. A whopping 5 of them, like that makes me an expert.'

So now she was facing some green demon in a trench coat with a Brooklyn accent. That was actually the weirdest part; that the thing sounded like a person. "Did anybody get the license plate of that truck that hit me?" It asked.

It still got up fairly gracefully although it did take a double take when it saw her. "Oh, I did not just get kicked on my ass by a little girl."

"Hey," Petra retorted, "I am sixteen. Not a little girl." She also launched an attack, since she didn't know how good a fighter this one was. If she could take out the demon by surprise, so much the better. But the demon blocked her punches and planted a foot in her stomach in return.

It did shake its arms though so he must have felt the impact and its own kick had been more of a shove so Petra was still good to go. Encouraged by this opening skirmish Petra launched another attack, being careful this time to keep her own defenses up and to use some kicks too. Unfortunately, the demon seemed to have learned too because it was deflecting her attacks rather than outright blocking them.

And it still managed to get a punch through her defenses but she rolled with it like Mister Vishe had thaught her and her own counter-attack drove the thing back. "What the hell are you on, kid? A spinach diet?" The demon asked this as it shed the coat revealing it wore no clothes underneath it. It was still decent though because something that looked like a shell encased its torso.

The unpleasant surprise was that it was carrying weapons. Faith had told her that most demons didn't and that you had to be careful about the ones that did. It usually mean they were slightly less incompetent then your average demon. The weapons in question looked like a cross between a dagger and a trident but Petra didn't have time for a good look because this time the demon attacked.

It twirled its daggers until it had the handle poking out between its two fingers while the shaft rested against its lower arm. It managed to sneak in a blow against her left ribcage followed by a similar blow against the side of her head that made her see stars for a second. She was on the ground now but she didn't let that stop her.

She kicked it with all her strength in the stomach and sent the demon flying into the wall, actually cracking the stones. The demon managed to land in a crouch but a pain filled groan told Petra she had managed to hurt the thing. On the other hand, breathing didn't feel very comfortable for her right now.

That was when the silence was broken by a cry, not too far off. "Raph, where are you?!"

Petra was surprised when the creature answered the call. "I'm here Keno!" She could hear someone running towards them now and she considered the situation in a flash. There was one demon here who already managed to hurt her and who didn't look like he was down for the count. And another demon, possibly just as good as this one, was on the way.

She sprang up and began to sprint back the way she had come. She prayed the other two Slayers wouldn't be too far away as she fished out her cellphone and dialed Frankie's number.

**Foot headquarters**  
Shredder watched the fight between the young Slayer and the Turtle in utter silence. There were two others in attendance; one was Tatsu, who observed the confrontation with interest. The other was a nondescript Foot ninja doing his best not to be noticed. Shredder turned it off after the Slayer had run away, the rest was of no interest to him.

"So they both survived." His voice carried his disappointment at that. "And these Slayers don't seem to be that good either." He turned his attention to the Foot ninja. "You have done well, you may feed now." And with that the minion was dismissed. Shredder wasn't finished however and turned to Tatsu. "We will stop our operations for a few days starting tonight. Tell everyone to stay inside except the teams covering the Slayers and the friends of the freaks. Notify me immediately when they find each other," he ordered.

TBC


End file.
